Standing on Thin Ice
by PocketFullOfZax
Summary: Instead of a Holby Christmas Party the ED staff decide to go ice-skating but will Max's behaviour on the ice cost him the one thing he really once for Christmas?


**Hey guys, here's my Christmas Zax one-shot like I promised. Enjoy!**

For the first time in its history Holby was obtaining its very own temporary ice rink for the Christmas period. There had been strong demand with people having to travel all the way to Bristol just to enjoy some of the festive fun on the ice. The council considered it a trial run. If it went well this year then there was the potential to make it a yearly occurrence, something that very much excited the people of Holby.

One of the downsides to the new ice-rink was an increase in casualties. The Holby Emergency Department had plenty more arm breakages in particular to deal with, which had an effect on the number of reported incidents in the area despite it only being marginal. You would be wrong to then assume that this put the ED staff off ice-skating. In fact, it was quite the opposite. This year, instead of having their annual Christmas party, the ED staff decided to hire out the ice-rink for a couple of hours on Christmas Eve. A few such as Connie and Lily were unhappy with the idea of ice-skating but that was more to do with their lack of interest towards anything that wasn't work.

Most of the regular ED staff were attending including Ash, Charlie, Tess and Zoe as well as the younger ones. Although they agreed that there wouldn't be a party it was a given that at least a few of them would go out for drinks later that evening.

Six in the evening and most of the staff had arrived at Holby Square where the ice rink was located. The excitement on Robyn's face was as if a child had just been given a pack of sweets while several others seemed less enthusiastic. They just didn't want to land in the ED live several of their patients had in recent weeks as a result of their afternoon but at the same time they wanted to enjoy themselves. Some of them made pacts between each other – particularly Ash and Charlie who both decided that they wouldn't be leaving the side at all.

Altogether there were twelve of them: Max, Zoe, Robyn, Lofty, Dylan, Rita, Cal, Lily, Connie, Tess, Ash and Charlie. Big Mac had refused to join in, others were going along to watch the others but only these twelve would be taking on the ice. It was a scramble as everyone tried to get seats in order to swap their shoes for the blade in order to get on the ice as quickly as possible.

It was early evening and the sky was pitch black however the ice rink was well lit up. One by one they entered the ice with Max showing off how good he was by going round the whole rink backwards only to be told off by the guide by providing the potential to cause an accident. Zoe laughed at him from inside the hut where she had just finished putting on her shoes. Karma came to bite back at her because as soon as she stood up she fell right on her bottom and Dylan had to help her back up again. This didn't go unnoticed by Max who narrowed his eyes slightly and continued to skate around.

Max watching Zoe enter on the ice couldn't help himself but laugh as she almost fell flat on her face but instead managed to use the side to pull herself back off. "Shove off Max." Zoe complained as Max was still trying to suppress his laughter.

"Whatever you say." He grinned. Max skated off to Rita who was just about skating on her own. He grabbed hold of her hand and they went round together. Quite a few of the others weren't bad at all and they were at least managing to get round without holding onto the side. Ash surprised himself with how natural he found it, which only made Zoe feel rotten about it all but Max was only going to make that worse for her.

"Sure you don't need help?" He shouted as he completed his seventh lap with Rita as Zoe had only made it round for the first time.

"Go to hell."

Rita playfully hit Max, "don't be so mean." She looked sympathetically towards Zoe as she let go of Max's hand and offered her hand to Zoe instead. "Come on we'll go slowly."

"I'm fine, honestly. I'll get the hang of it eventually." As Zoe said this she almost fell over again with Rita grabbing hold of her to stabilise her.

"No you're not come on." Rita pulled her hand with enough force that Zoe let go of the side and attempted to tackle the ice with Rita. Of all the people she could probably trust Rita the most to guide her round the ice properly.

Rita kept to her word and they went around the ice slowly and Zoe was gaining more confidence after every lap. This was until Max cut across them and shouting at her, "now you know how it feels to be cut off, for future reference."

Rita looked on ahead a little confused and Zoe wasn't sure where to focus her attention on: her rage for Max or the fact that she had to stabilise herself again. She knew exactly what he meant with his comment not that anyone would and she didn't think he'd be so mean about it.

Before long Zoe was going around on her own with a big smile on her face. Max wasn't causing any more trouble with her. It's important to note however that she wasn't the only person Max was picking on he had cut in front many different people causing Ethan to fall over several times and then deciding to laugh at the fact that it had then produced a wet patch on Ethan's backside.

Max was using his mischievous ways to get the thought of Dylan and Zoe out of his head. He knew they weren't an item she'd said so enough times but it didn't stop the thoughts – especially with them living together. But after being told off and having been given a warning by the guides he realised that his reckless behaviour had the potential to land someone in hospital and it wasn't even serving his purpose because he was still feeling bad about it all. He was finding it difficult to be excited about Christmas especially considering he had to work tomorrow.

He skated up behind Zoe and put his hand on her bum and guided her around. "Max, hand off bum." Zoe spoke through gritted teeth. "We're in public surrounded by practically every one we know. How many times do I have to tell you?"

Max obliged by moving his hand up to the small of her back after refusing to remove his hand completely. He wasn't done with the conversation and was well aware that Zoe was still having to devote her full attention to just getting round in one piece. He realised that although the timing couldn't be worse he needed closure just so he could have a peaceful Christmas – he deserved that at least.

"Zoe, about earlier, I'm sorry." There was sincerity in his voice, which made Zoe feel at ease, she felt inclined to believe him. "It's not easy when you come back looking like this." He explained.

"Looking like what?"

"So beautiful." He whispered in her ear.

"Max, please stop."

"Never."

Max skated off and with Dylan paying particular attention to the situation he made his way over to Zoe. "Are you alright?" He asked her concerned about his friend. He was the only one who had the faintest idea of what had happened between the two.

"Not now Dylan!" Zoe sighed.

"He's gotten to you hasn't he? Do you want me to have a word with him?"

"No I don't I just want to skate in piece." Dylan nodded and they skated harmoniously in silence.

Everyone else seemed to be having a lot of fun on the ice. Charlie was still clinging to the side, as was Connie who was refusing any help. She didn't look happy at all and eventually decided to give up on the skating and joined Big Mac, Dixie and Louise at the café. They were all laughing at how hilarious it was to watch their colleagues attempt to skate.

"What's the deal with Max and Zoe?" Louise asked Connie as she sat down with her mulled wine.

"Oh nothing out of the ordinary, Max finds it hilarious to wind her up and she falls for it every time."

"Or him." Louise added.

"I beg your pardon?" Connie asked her.

"Just a thought," Louise shrugged.

"No," Big Mac concluded, "Max has been acting strange since he split up with his 'online girlfriend' you know the one that doesn't really exist?" They all nodded in agreement apart from Connie who refused to engage in this gossip. She was not at all interested in the porter's love life. In fact she wasn't interested in his life at all.

The rest of the session continued without any problems and when they all had changed back into their correct shoes the group of colleagues congregated outside the café.

"So who's coming to the pub?" Max asked – of course it was Max.

"You can count me in," Lofty nodded.

"Me too!" Robyn agreed.

"Sorry I have to get back to my daughter," Connie commented.

"I've got Louis visiting me tomorrow for Christmas dinner so I better get his room ready." Charlie commented.

"Yeah I'm not sure…." Zoe seemed uncertain.

"Turning down a drink, that's unlike you. Come on it's Christmas Eve," Rita argued.

"I suppose I don't have anything better to do…" Rita grinned at Zoe.

The rest agreed to drinks and after Charlie posed the question of where they'd go they all knew there was only one response to this.

It was a ten minute walk which they took briskly as it had got colder as the night wore on. Although this wasn't anticipated they didn't expect it to be so cold as this. By the time they got to the pub they were all craving hot chocolate rather than alcohol but after one glass of wine that quickly changed their mind.

Conversation went from work to Christmas. They began discussing what they'd have if they had an unlimited budget. "I'd get at least five pairs of heels, you can never have too many heels." Zoe spoke.

Ash interrupted her, "I'd have…" but Zoe then cut him off again.

"Hey, I'm not done yet." The others rolled their eyes at her and knew this could be a while. After several minutes Max interrupted her.

"Okay we get the point you like expensive stuff."

Ash was finally able to talk about this camera he desired and discussed his love for photography, which was something no one knew about him so everyone was intrigued.

"Is that everyone then?" Robyn asked.

They all nodded in agreement before Rita spoke out, "hang on Max hadn't said what he'd want. Now this I'd love to hear."

"There's only one thing I'd want." He looked directly at Zoe while saying this and she shifted in her seat rather uncomfortably. He was saved however as the barman came over and took away all the empty wine glasses, giving Max the chance to excuse himself for a cigarette break. After he left through the door Zoe announced that she would also have a cigarette break. No one thought anything of it at first.

"Isn't Zoe meant to have stopped smoking?" Big Mac asked.

"No, she caved after a couple of days." Louise responded and then nothing more was said about the conversation. Only Dylan flickered his eyes to the window where he could see Max lighting up his cigarette and Zoe emerging behind him. What a place to stand…

Meanwhile outside Zoe stood by the door as she watched Max light up his cigarette and she smiled to herself. She walked up behind him and took it right out of his mouth and placed it in her own. "You don't give up do you?" She questioned him.

At first his eyes were on the cigarette that she'd just taken from him so he reached into his pocket to grab another and lit it as he responded. "Never."

"I am sorry you know." He looked at her to find her staring at him. "What?" He inquired.

Zoe continued to gaze into her eyes seemingly lost in thought but eventually she shook her head. She removed the cigarette from her mouth and breathed out. "I guess some flames just aren't meant to go out."

Max smiled at her and dug his spare hand into his pocket and pulled out some mistletoe. "I had it on me… just in case."

Zoe smiled then pulled him towards her so he was out of sight from the window. She felt Dylan's eyes gazing on her like a hawk and she didn't want to think who else might be watching. She watched as Max produced his cheeky grin and held the mistletoe above their heads and pulled her in for a lingering kiss.

When they pulled away Zoe stubbed her cigarette light out and headed towards the door. "Are you coming in? We don't want anyone getting suspicious."

When they sat back down Max attempted to play footsie with Zoe but she didn't respond. Nothing on her face indicated annoyance either which only confused him. This was until Rita piped up, "Max, why is your foot stroking my thigh?"

Instead of getting Zoe's leg he had gotten Rita's. How had he not noticed? Max felt embarrassed and excused himself to get another drink at the bar. He had no intention of returning to the table tonight. He sent a text to Zoe explaining that if she got him out of the situation he'd return the favour – she knew exactly what he meant by that and in case she wasn't sure he added a winking face on the end of the message.

Zoe upon reading the message announced that she was off and got up to put her coat on. She told Dylan that she'd see him back at the boat indicating that he should stay put. He would have ignored her had he only been halfway through his drink but he wasn't one to waste a pint so stayed put. Max had already by this point said an awkward goodbye and left the pub.

Max was leaning against the lamppost when Zoe exited the pub and he thanked her with a kiss. She fished inside her pocket for her car keys when she realised that she'd left her phone on the table. Max was already facing in the right direction and glanced through the window to see if he could see it then came to a realisation. "Zoe, do you have a lock on your phone?"

"No why?"

"Please tell me you've saved my name as something different?"

Zoe confused as to what Max was on about turned around to follow his eye line and realised what they meant. Through the window she could see the entire group huddled looking at a singular phone – one that could only be Zoe's. This meant only one thing; they all knew.

Well at least Max had got his Christmas present.


End file.
